Before I get to my usual batch of game-related stuff, I just
wanted to take a minute to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to
everyone who stops off here at Coffeecola to read my rantings.

Not to be cheesy, but as I get older, Christmas becomes more
about the people I share my life with, and less about what I got for somebody,
or what somebody left for me under the tree. All talk of presents aside, I'm
incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to provide for my family in this tough
economy all year long (not just on December 25th) and that they’ve
got everything they need to be comfortable and happy. I'm also grateful for the
bizarre array of friends and acquaintances in my life, and I appreciate every
single one.

I don't have all the swag I’d like and my bank account is
nothing to crow about, but I'm grateful for the things I do have, and I hope that
you all feel the same way as well. Best wishes to you all.

Now, onto the games talk…

*

Podcasts: In case you missed it, the new @Gamecritics Podcast
(episode 102) is now up for your listening pleasure. It's a solid game-talk
show, featuring Batman: Arkham Origins, ZombiU, Zelda: Link Between Worlds, and
Beyond: Two Souls. As a bonus, former GC host @TimSpaeth makes a rare guest
appearance to hang with us for the chat. Click here to come aboard.

If you can't get enough of me (and I sure can't) you can
catch me guest-appearing on the Chic Pixel Plus Podcast (episode 13) hosted by
the super-cool @ApricotSushi. We talk about random Japanese topics, Kaiju/Tokusatsu
stuff, Marvel Puzzle Quest vs. Puzzles & Dragons, and a load of other nifty
things. Give a listen!

*

Games: I picked up Super Mario 3D World to play with my
family over the holiday, and we went through it for an hour or two the other
day. I have to say, our multiplayer aspect was pretty horrible, mostly due to the
mix of people that we did… My wife and I are goals-oriented, and my young son (of
course) just likes to screw around. Both of those things are fine, but mixing
them together wasn’t great. In the future, we’re definitely going to have to split
into "serious" and "screw around" sessions, because
otherwise it doesn't mix.

Side note: playing Mario really drove home how badly I need
to buy "regular” controllers for the WiiU, and how ridiculous Nintendo's
controller strategy has been in the last two generations.

When they were trying to break new ground with the Wii, I
could understand the Wiimote, but it became immediately apparent that it wasn’t
viable for a wide variety of games. With the WiiU, the gamepad lacks that same clear vision
behind it, and that lack is obvious. Holding the gamepad is like holding a small
dinner tray at best and grows tiresome over extended periods, the touchscreen functions are novelties, and there aren’t even
any killer apps which make the case for why the thing even exists.

Nintendo's insistence on supporting the Wii’s peripherals on top of pushing the gamepad seems
like a poor idea as well -- my wife and son were not happy using the Wiimotes
held sideways and I'm sure it's got to be a nightmare for developers trying to take all possible configurations into account. Anyway, getting back to Mario, it seems like the only solution for all of us to be satisfied
is to get everybody "normal" controllers, which sort of proves Nintendo's controller-related flights of fancy to be… just that.

In terms of what else I've been playing, it's been fairly
scattershot…

I finished Knack on the PS4 last week and was completely underwhelmed
by it. It looks decent enough (certainly not a graphical powerhouse) but it
suffers from an incredibly confused design that appeals to children but
requires hardcore skills to cope with the difficulty of combat.

On top of that,
the game design is so flat and repetitive that there's really nothing to it, so
of course it grinds on for at least twice as long as it should. Every now and
then I got a glimpse of what it was trying to be and there’s potential for a
sequel if it addresses most of the complaints, but in its current form, it's a
bloated non-starter.

After that, I checked out Doki Doki Universe on PSN, and it
was a fairly disappointing experience. The aesthetic is incredibly cute and
endearing, and I love the concept of its robot trying to become more human, but
the gameplay is so simple that I kept falling asleep.

Just like Knack, it's another game with mixed-up design… The
graphics are totally appealing to little kids (my son was dying to try it) and
it uses a bizarre nonverbal pictograph menu system, but it's heavily text-based
and there are complex concepts and questions that are communicated in the
frequent dialogues. It’s interesting enough for adults, but the play is far too
simple to keep their attention. The play is just right for little kids, but too
complex for them to understand. What's going on with Sony's games these days?

Finally, I'm now playing Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate on
the Vita, and it's been quite a pleasant little surprise. I didn't hear much
about it when it came out except for people being disappointed, and Warner
Bros. didn't send a review copy despite requests, so I was expecting the worst.
However, it’s been solidly enjoyable, and a real treat for someone like myself
who wanted more Batman after Origins.

The 2.5 the perspective works fabulously and doesn't feel
like a “lesser” experience at all. Going through the levels has a very Metroidvania
feel to it, and it reminds me a bit of Asylum, although the level designs aren’t as tight as that game. The cutscenes are told in a great ‘moving comic
book’ style, and I like the way Blackgate prison has been divided into three
sections, each one controlled by one of Batman's foes.

So far progress has been good and I like that enemies don’t
respawn. I've seen this particular aspect called out as a negative by some
reviewers, but I totally disagree. I feel like the "big" Batman games
have far too much combat, and I never liked the idea of thugs respawning
anyway… Besides, it feels like an accomplishment to have areas cleared out in
this game, and finding new enemies is a good clue that you’re on the right path
since Batman must do a good bit of backtracking.

Speaking of which, this “hey, new enemies… I must be on the right track” aspect
is especially important because the game’s map is unbelievably awful. I
have no idea why the developers thought this crapmap was going to fly, because
the game is presented via side-view, but the map is presented as top-down. It makes absolutely no sense and is utterly disorienting. Apart from that,
it's just plain hard to tell which way to go, and how to get there. They
would've been much better off copying any of the dozens of map systems which
came before, as in Castlevania or Metroid to name a few painfully obvious
examples.

Apart from the map, it's been all good… It feels like a
great fit for a handheld, it looks great, and it definitely feels like a
genuine Batman adventure.

Also, bonus points for the Deadshot boss battle. I played
that side mission in Arkham Origins, and was disgusted at how absurd a fight it
was. In contrast, Blackgate gets it exactly right, and it feels just the way
it should. No spoilers, but it's pretty cool and makes a hell of a lot more
sense with regard to the comics continuity.

********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************

The clouds of war are gathering on the Nintendo Wii U as
super genre mashup CastleStorm is making its way to the eShop on
December 26, 2013 in North American for $9.99 and in Europe for €9.99.

CastleStorm makes full use of the Nintendo Wii U Gamepad,
which mirrors the action being displayed on the TV allowing the game to be
fully playable on the GamePad without a TV. All functionality is available
without touch as well, using the sticks and action buttons. In local
multiplayer, one player uses the Pro Controller and looks at the TV, the other
player uses the GamePad and plays on the Gamepad screen.

To learn more about CastleStorm, check out the developer diary on the Zen Studios YouTube Channel!

CastleStorm is a super genre mashup of 2D physics
destruction mashed with tower defense brawler! CastleStorm was born
out of the fond childhood memory of building and destroy Lego castles, and
currently available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation®Network and Steam for
$9.99.

*

Techland and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released
today a new gameplay video from

Dying Light, showcasing the darker side of the
game's revolutionary day-and-night-cycle mechanic. The video gives a glimpse
into different strategies that players will adopt depending on the time of day
in order to survive.

Slow, apathetic, and easily visible, the infected are not
much of a threat in daylight. A skilled courier, sure of their parkour skills
and smart enough not to engage in combat with too many enemies, can
effortlessly avoid larger groups of the infected or escape beyond their reach.
But this relatively safe state of affairs is turned upside down as the sun
sets!

At night, it is you who is at a disadvantage. Without
daylight, the senses of the infected become more acute while their thirst for
human flesh skyrockets. They run, jump, and climb, so there is really no place
where you are safe anymore. They grow in strength, which means fighting them is
not even an option. Those of them who were too afraid of light to come out
during the day now swarm the city hunting for you. Still, there is something
even worse lurking in the shadows...

What tactics will you use to survive the night? Will you put
your trust in your agility and try to outrun the infected despite the odds? Or
use the lack of light to your advantage and sneak past them? Remember, your
decision determines if you will see the sunrise today!

Dying Light is a first-person action survival horror game
set in a vast and dangerous open world, where players scavenge for supplies
during the day as to be best prepared to survive the night. The game will
launch for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2014.

It's party time at Halfbrick as the Aussie studio's final
game of the year

Colossatron: Massive World Threat launches around
the world simultaneously on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch,
and on Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android.

Players take the role of Colossatron in the ultimate role
reversal, on an explosive quest to destroy cities and ultimately the entire
planet. Hardened military hero General Moustache is the key to Colossatron's
demise, but the best players will create powerful strategies to fend off the
General's gunships, mechs and battle tanks. And I, for one, welcome our new
gigantic robot snake overlord.

Colossatron has been a year in the making, with
gameplay innovation being a key focus for the development team. Using a core
color-matching mechanic to build Colossatron and fight off hordes of military
attackers takes inspiration from tower defence and real-time strategy. There's
nothing else quite like it, and Halfbrick is always proud to add another unique
game to its portfolio of mobile hits.

Adding a fresh layer of style was also important to keep the
action covered and the story moving. Everything is presented from the viewpoint
of Action News 6, the hard-hitting team of reporters who see Colossatron as
both a catastrophe and chance for ratings! Rick Dalton covers all the action
from the studio, and field reporter Katie Hazard checks in with live updates
from the battle zone.

Colossatron: Massive World Threat is Halfbrick’s
flagship game of 2013. It is available now worldwide as a paid title with
optional in-app purchases.

Another year, another breakdown of the year's best games… according
to me.

By any reasonable measure, 2013 was a fantastic year for videogames. Although much attention has been devoted to
the launch of next-generation consoles (and I look forward to seeing what they
bring) there’s no denying that the last-gen boxes were stuffed to the gills
with quality software.

…And wow, does it feel strange to refer to them as last-gen.

Anyway, I was happy to find myself playing good game after
game over the last twelve months, and I’ve got to be honest – if next year was
guaranteed to be as strong as this year, I wouldn’t need new consoles at
all.

Since 2013 was such a bumper crop of goodness, I had a
difficult time picking an overall winner. There were many solid titles, but no
single one which was head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, I think I rearranged the order of
this list at least a dozen times and swapped the top three slots even more than
that. Honestly, you could rank the final
three in any order you like, and I’d probably agree.

Also, some readers may note that this list is heavily
console-centric, but that was out of necessity.
I know that there were quite a number of notable PC titles deserving of
attention, but I wasn’t able to get to them due to my desktop computer being a
piece of junk. My hope is that I will be
able to include more PC titles next year, but I played as much as I could with
the machines I had available.

In any event, don’t just skip straight to the bottom –
please take a look at the very deserving games which precede the winner, and if
some aren’t familiar or there are a few you haven't tried yet, give them some
consideration. There were so many choice experiences to be had this year, it
would be nearly impossible for anyone to have played them all.

And now, with no further ado… my top ten games of 2013.

*

11

Marvel Puzzle Quest – iOS/Steam

Okay, I lied. I picked eleven.

Anyway, it’s been quite a while since an iOS game held my
attention for more than five minutes, but Marvel Puzzle Quest has become my new
addiction, and I take a hit every chance I get.
While it may appear to be a standard match-three puzzler on the surface,
it retains much of the nuance and complexity found in the original Puzzle
Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. The developers also do a great job of
translating the powers of Marvel comic characters into game mechanics, there
are constantly rotating events to keep players engaged past the campaign, the rewards
and perks flow freely, and its free-to-play status never undermines the
integrity of the core design. It’s pretty close to being my ultimate iPhone
game.

10

New StreetPass Games – 3DS

I never had much use for the StreetPass function on my 3DS
until this new batch of games came out, but I carried my unit with me
religiously once they did. Although all
four (Flower Town, Mii Force, Warrior’s Way and Monster Manor) suffer from
being overly repetitive with their text, they each offer a unique style of gameplay
that uses the Miis of fellow 3DS owners in creative ways such as power-ups on a
spaceship, or as fellow gardeners nurturing a seed. Light enough to play before
bed but rich enough to make me seek out Nintendo Zones or places where gamers
might congregate, these titles might seem like a strange pick, but the fact
that they made me change my real-world behavior can’t be ignored.

9

Devil May Cry – Multi

Real talk: the Devil May Cry series has never been as good as fans want to think it was until DMC3. I've got respect for that installment, but the work that Ninja Theory’s done with DmC is quite possibly the best Dante overall. While it may not require the same level of technically hardcore skill, it’s a more well-rounded and conceptually interesting game, and it takes the franchise to a whole new level. The art direction is fantastic, the combat engine is totally solid, and the re-imagining of the character, his backstory and the supporting cast was great work. Every aspect is polished and cared for, and it shows.

8

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - Multi

It's a shame that The Bureau was connected to XCOM, because
that link set it up for failure. While it has precious little in common with the
source material and might disappoint people wanting turn-based strategy, I
found The Bureau’s spin on real-time combat to be quite satisfying once I learned
the ropes. With creative micromanagement of a three-man squad and special
powers which were a blast to use, each battle was intense. Its environments are
incredibly rich with the essence of the early 60s, and the story turned out to
be a real crackerjack past the halfway point. I would absolutely love to see a
sequel, but since the studio has been disbanded that doesn't seem too likely…
Enjoy this one for what it is, since it's probably all we’re going to get.

7

Saints Row IV - Multi

I've always been a fan of the Saints Row franchise, but I was painfully disappointed in Saints Row: The Third. As such, I didn’t expect much from IV, but I couldn’t be happier to have been mistaken -- the development team got themselves back on track in a big way. Open-world games are too formulaic these days and the devs know it, so they energized the adventure with wild superpowers that let players run rampant. IV goes bananas in the best possible ways and its design overhaul is jaw-dropping, but the real key is that it was all done in a way which absolutely makes sense. The writing is miles better than it was last time around, and it all fits together in just the right way. Newcomers to the franchise may think the Saints are just about being crazy, but crazy without structure underneath it isn't any good. As far as I'm concerned, Volition absolutely nailed that balance here.

6

Lost Planet 3 - Multi

I'm an absolute sucker for strong writing and
characterization, and Lost Planet 3 has it in spades. While some were surprised
or put off by the sudden shift away from fast action into a more
narrative-driven structure, I adored it. It was a rare, mellow pleasure to join
space-faring long-haul trucker Jim Peyton on his day-to-day duties, experiencing
what it must feel like to be so far from home and missing your family while
trying your best to support them. Playing the role of someone who wasn't an
invincible lone soldier or lethal space marine was a rare treat, and the
writers did a fantastic job in taking the mundane and making it shine.

5

Dragon’s Crown – PS3/Vita

Dragon’s Crown is the ultimate example of taking an older
genre that’s been lying fallow and revving it back up for modern sensibilities.
The side-scrolling beat-‘em-up hasn't been deserving of attention to for years,
but Vanillaware not only brought it back with a bang, they created what could
very well be the finest iteration that’s ever existed. The hand-drawn art
is fluidly fantastic and dripping with distinctive style, the depth in game
design and character abilities is superb, and the replay value -- traditionally
a weakness of the genre -- far outstrips its predecessors thanks to the
diversity of classes, numerous side quests, and online cooperative questing.

4

Tearaway - Vita

Out of all the titles I played this year, nothing was
fresher or more joyous than this. Media Molecule uses every aspect of the Vita’s
hardware in interesting, innovative ways that mesh perfectly with the
third-person gameplay. It’s exceedingly rare when I don’t find touch
integration or motion irritating in games, but everything Tearaway does is smart,
restrained, and infused with whimsy and delight. There’s also no denying that
the character and world design are painfully cute, and awarding the player papercraft
blueprints to create in the real world was absolute brilliance. If there was
ever a poster child for what the Vita’s hardware is capable of, this game is
it.

3

Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons - Multi

This small, quietly unassuming title came out of nowhere with
a gut-punch emotional response and a radical intertwining of game design and
narrative. By combining the physical nature of controllers with the way the
player controls two characters at the same time, a special form of storytelling
was created that could only exist via the electronic medium. In addition, its
dark fairytale of a story was conveyed only through gesture and play… Not a
single word is uttered from start to finish. Succeeding at so many challenges is
an incredible achievement from any perspective, and Brothers elegantly
demonstrates that there’s plenty of room left to explore in the narrative space
that has nothing to do with scripting or dialogue.

2

State of Decay – XBLA/PC

Despite the flood of zombie games over the last few years,
I’ve been consistently frustrated at the lack of true survival scenarios… until
now. State of Decay achieves exactly that, and does it magnificently. By creating
an open world and allowing the player to roam free within it, searching for
resources, rescuing survivors, and establishing a bulwark against the undead is
fantastically gripping. Details such as managing internal strife at home base,
assigning the right survivors to the correct tasks, and being in constant fear
of character permadeath put it over the top. Going out on a routine supply run
is never routine -- getting surprised by a mob of zombies and watching a
character’s stamina run low as the undead close in is gut-churning. In this
state, the stakes feel incredibly high at all times.

1

The Last Of Us – PS3

The Last Of Us is a genuine tour de force of writing,
characterization, and world design.

Leads Ellie and
Joel have one of the best relationships I've ever seen illustrated in a game thanks
to incredibly natural conversations and rich levels of nonverbal expression. I was also quite taken by the contrasting
themes of parental responsibility and independence, and of the way the game
examines the difference between doing what’s right and doing what you must, not
to mention questioning what the definition of “right” even is. The supporting cast is just as strong, and each
new situation in their harsh quest presents riveting slices of what survival
might mean to different people.

Technically, Naughty Dog devotes an unbelievable level of effort
towards bringing each ruined location to life, and the environmental
storytelling shines through. Even more
impressive is how the hybrid stealth/combat play offers enough twists and
surprises to actually sustain its fifteen-hour running time. Balancing tense encounters with quiet moments
is a difficult thing, but the developers managed to find the right line better
than most.

I never would have expected it given my general lack of
affection for Uncharted, but these relatably human characters struggling
through an inhuman situation manage to deliver the most memorable experience of
the year. And that ending? It rings absolutely true. Although there’s no question that the amount
of money and number of people required to create an experience of this sort
would not be possible for many studios, the most important element of The Last
Of Us is the time and care taken to craft the connection between its two leads,
and the lessons learned here will certainly have an effect on future titles to
come.

*

…And there you have it, my top ten of 2013.

Agree? Disagree?

I'd love to hear your thoughts either way, as well as your own picks. Post a comment and let me know!

Games: It’s been quite a while since I’ve talked about any
iOS games here at the blog because it’s been quite a while since I’ve
been excited about any.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to put down developers
who put their blood, sweat and tears into bringing their iOS dreams to life,
but those gems are tough to find in the sea of crap that’s on the app
store.

I did my best to find the good stuff for a while,
but it became too much effort for too little return, and I gave up. However,
there are a couple of things I’m upbeat on, so I figured I'd dip
back into the world of the iPhone for at least one night…

The first is a brand-new title from one of my all-time
favorite iOS developers,Tin Man Games. I clicked with their stuff immediately since
I’m a huge fan of Choose Your Own Adventure, and clearly these guys are too. Their latest title (out now!) is Island Of The Lizard King, originally penned by Ian Livingstone in 1984 as one of his Fighting Fantasy novels - Similar to CYOA, but better-known in the UK than the US.

Although there are other options available on the app store,
Tin Man’s production values are great and they put lots of little tweaks in to
make the overall experience quite pleasurable.
If you’ve never read a CYOA or FF (quite understandable, since those books were at the height of their popularity
quite a while ago) do yourself a favor and check out Lizard King, or any of the
others they’ve already published. I
think the Judge Dredd installment has been my favorite so far, but they're all
good.

I’ll be going through Lizard King tomorrow for certain.

In other iOS news, if you’ve been following me on Twitter, then you will no doubt have heard me raving about my next pick, Marvel Puzzle Quest. I just turned in a formal review so look for
that soon, but in the meantime, I have no problem recommending this to
absolutely anyone. While I can certainly
understand a general aversion to free-to-play games (believe me, I am quite allergic to in-app purchases) this one is the real deal.

Basically, it’s a match-three puzzle game married to
characters taken from the Marvel universe, and has a lot in common with the
original Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords. MPQ is much simpler than that one (and if you’ve never played it, it’s fantastic) but it’s a great fit for the
iPhone and I find that the free-to-play implementation is pretty painless when
compared to most I’ve seen. In fact, I’ve been playing it for at least an hour or two a day since
I picked it up on @rowankaiser’s recommendation, and he wasn’t
wrong.

The gameplay is solid puzzling
enhanced with super-powers fueled by matching gems, and there are a
number of amenities that keep the action going – the ability to skip
matches against opponents who are obviously overpowered,
a regenerating character-heal function which is free to use, and lots of side
missions outside the campaign which always offer something to do.

It’s not perfect by any means, but it's had no
problem keeping my attention, and I’ve enjoyed it enough to kick in real money -- and for me, that's saying something. Frankly, I’ve already played it longer than I play most $60.00 retail games, so I
don’t feel bad about keeping these devs going at all.

There are a couple of other things that I’ve done my eye on…
The Room is a game I’ve heard about forever, but it was only on iPad had until recently. There’s a new pocket
version that I’ll be checking out, and Halfbrick is coming out with a neat-looking
title called Colossatron this week… My eye's on that one as well.

If you've got any current iOS favorites that you can
swear by, drop me a line. It’s
definitely more work than one person can handle to find the wheat in all of the
app store's chaff, so any and all help is appreciated!

********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************

AbleGamers Charity proudly
announces the launch of this year’s AbleGamers Holiday Gift Guide for Gamers
with Disabilities. This year we have several recommendations on which games
were the most accessible and which assistive devices are the best bets to
help the disabled gamer in your life, but we also included several items you
may want to avoid altogether.

Trion Worlds
has released Arkbreaker, the second installment of downloadable content
for its open world shooter, Defiance. The Arkbreaker pack features
exclusive content including a new mission line that gives arkhunters the power
to call down their own arkfalls, vicious cold fire weapons and a formidable new
boss, the Volge Warmaster, that will require teamwork to defeat. Starting
today, all gamers will also have free access to new powerups, Spikes and Stims,
and both daily and weekly login bonuses. The Defiance team has also reworked
all the major storyline missions, making them fully cooperative so that
arkhunters will always be able to bring their friends on their adventures.

 A New
Story Line – A race against Dark Matter to secure an ark-brain interface
with the technologies to summon arkfalls down to earth on command.

 Summon
and Enter Arkfalls – The power to call down arkfalls is now in the hands
of arkhunters. Once on the ground, individuals or groups can battle their way
inside to loot new and advanced weaponry and, of course, face off against the
Volge enemies protecting them.

 Cold
Fire Weapons – Exclusive use of a line of cold fire sniper rifles,
pistols, and assault rifles. An additional 20 new advanced-tech weapons put a
new and more powerful spin on old favorites.

 A
Seriously Deadly Volge Warmaster – The Volge Warmaster means business. 20
players have seven minutes to vanquish him before he vanishes to earn some of
the best loot in Defiance.

 Volge
Threads – A new Volge engineer outfit comes with the purchase of
Arkbreaker along with increased daily and weekly login bonuses.

Along with the new DLC pack released today, Defiance was
updated with a slew of new free content and features, including fully
co-op story missions (previously playable only as single-player instances). All
players can now utilizeSpikes, which grant offensive and defensive area
buffs, and Stims that boost speed, strength, heal rate or EGO power.
Arkhunter inventory has also been given a serious update: favorite items have
been added for quick retrieval along with instant breakdown of non-favorite
items, giving players the ability to sell or salvage in bulk. Gear comparison
has also been greatly improved, making it easier and faster to choose the
perfect loadout.

The Arkbreaker pack is available on PlayStation 3 and
Windows PC for $9.99 or on Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points.

Defiance is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more
information about Defiance, please visit www.Defiance.com

*

Crimes & Punishments, the latest Sherlock Holmes
investigation game scheduled for release on PlayStation®4, PC, Xbox 360® and
PlayStation®3 in Q2 2014, can now reveal its new trailer, "Justice and
Morality", and is updating
the Devblog with a new post!

The clues you uncover and the avenue you wish to pursue - or
not - in each of the 7 cases in the game will point to 10 suspects in a single
case. Your logical deduction alone will enable you to determine
who, in your opinion, the true culprit is. But remember: you could put an
innocent victim behind bars if you overlook certain clues or trails! Once you
establish the perpetrator of the deed, you must then bear the responsibility of
deciding what to do with this information... will you carry out the letter of
the law, or will you be guided by your moral compass? Carefully consider the
consequences of your actions, because every choice you make will have
repercussions later in the game!

Don't forget too that Crimes & Punishments has its
own Devblog which is regularly updated by the various Frogwares teams
with all the relevant, varied and fascinating info on the game development.Today's
post describes the different puzzles, brain-teasers and other specific
situations in Crimes & Punishments that will force Sherlock to draw upon
his many talents!

Crimes & Punishments will be released on PC, Xbox 360®,
PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®4 in Q2 2014.

A
special add-on content pack in support of the Child’s Play charity is now
available in Saints Row IV: The Child's Play Pack (a special web
site for this DLC is located at www.childsplay.saintsrow.com.) Publisher
Deep Silver and developer Volition are donating all proceeds from this pack in
support of Child's Play.

Child's Play is a video game industry charity which raises money to support
sick children and their families during their stay in hospitals and therapy
facilities. Just recently, Child's Play announced that through the generosity
of donors worldwide they have raised more than $20 million over its ten year
existence.

“The generosity of Deep Silver, Volition and Saints Row IV fans will positively
impact the lives of children in our network of hospitals around the world. By
providing video games and other forms of play, child life specialists are able
to help children cope with pain and fear, and make the holidays a little
brighter for sick kids,” says Jamie Dillion, program coordinator at Child’s
Play.

The Child's Play Pack in Saints Row IV contains toys that will bring back
childhood memories. Players will be able to rampage through the virtual city of
Steelport as a Digital Dino or go bananas in the Robochimp Outfit, while the
Retro Rocket vehicle lets players soar through the streets of Steelport in
classic style.

Saints Row fans can support Child's Play for a limited time by purchasing this
add-on for the PC at a price of $2.99 USD / EUR 2.99 / GBP 2.49.

Before Banksy was selling
art in Central Park for 10 bucks a pop, graffiti artist and pop culture icon
(and nice dude) Marc Ecko released Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure in 2006
to much fanfare on Xbox, PS2 and PC. With a mind-blowing soundtrack that won
Best Video Game Soundtrack from the MTV Video Music awards, fans can nab this
bad boy for just $7.49 (half off the regular $14.99 price tag) as Devolver
Digital, purveyors of fine indie content, have propped it up on Steam:http://store.steampowered.com/app/260190.

Play as Trane, a "toy" graffiti artist with the street smarts,
athletic prowess and vision to become an "All City King" - the most
reputable of all graffiti artists. Along your quest, uncover the mayor's deep,
dark secret and use your fighting talents and high-wire graffiti to expose the
city's leader as a corrupt tyrant.

As you struggle to save a neighborhood from an oppressive government, one
question stands out: What if graffiti could change the world? Risk your life
battling city authorities and rival graffiti gangs - mere obstacles in your
attempt to get your tag up. And in this city, not just any tag will do. You
have to "Get IN, Get UP and Get OUT".

Games: Although there are still a few weeks left in 2013,
we’ve finally hit that lull that comes only after all of the big games have
been released for the holiday and the pressure of trying to cover everything is
off. I love this time because my backlog
is enormous, and it’s one of the few periods when I can safely
start chipping away at it without feeling bad for neglecting something that
needs to be reviewed.

Case in point, ZombiU.

I’ve had ZombiU in my backlog since the day I bought my
WiiU, and I’ve never had time for it until now.
I guess it worked out since we decided to cover it as a group for the
next @Gamecritics podcast, but I’d have to say the wait wasn’t worth it.

The gist is that you play a survivor in a post-zombie
London, taking advice from an unseen voice who guides you through the city and
helps you do what needs to be done. One
twist is that the game runs on a permadeath structure, so every time your
character falls, he or she turns into a zombie (with a backpack full of your
items, by the way) so your next character needs to track down the old one, kill
them, take their stuff, and continue the mission.

The other twist is that the developers have incorporated a
number of novel functions into the WiiU’s gamepad. For example, when going into the inventory,
it must be managed on the gamepad touchscreen.
At the same time, the character in the game is “looking” into his
backpack. He looks in his bag as you
look at the gamepad, essentially. It’s kind of neat. Another common usage is to
use the game pad to “scan” an area in order to detect items and zombies.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m usually interested in
zombie games that try to do something besides the average shoot-em-up, so ZombiU
seemed like it would be right up my alley.
Unfortunately, I’ve had a devil of a time staying interested enough to make
real progress.

One of the problems I have is that in a game where supplies
and resources are quite precious (you’re counting every bullet) I take issue
with the developers having zombies pop up out of nowhere to surprise and ambush.

In one instance, I was in a completely cleared-out building looking
for supplies, only to come around the corner and see a zombie waiting which had
obviously been placed by the developers to catch me-off guard. In another, I was trying to reclaim gear
left on my last character and I was literally (literally!) watching zombies
spawn on top of a roof and then stumble down to the street to surround the
resources.

The way I see it, you can’t have it both ways – if the
resources are tight and I’m expected to manage them, then you can’t break the
rules and surprise me in a fakey-gamey way after I’ve done due diligence and been sufficiently cautious, i.e. - zombies appearing in locked areas. On the other hand, if you
really want to do the jump scares and go for something on the action side, then
don’t be so stingy with the items.

Another problem is that this is one of the only games
I’ve ever played where my character feels slower, clunkier, and less competent
than the zombies. It’s incredibly easy
to get surrounded and overwhelmed, and playing in the first-person perspective
doesn’t help. The melee using a cricket
bat feels slow and awkward, and there aren’t any new techniques to learn or any
power-ups to get for it. With bullets in
such short supply, that bat is going to see the majority of the action, yet it’s
the most awkward, boring thing to use.

To thing that kind of sealed the deal for me is that the
very features which are supposed to make it stand out -- the gamepad
augmentation -- only serve to take me out of the game and destroy my immersion.

Honestly, despite what the current trend seems to be, it’s a
royal pain in the ass to constantly look back and forth between two screens. It
just breaks my focus and distracts me from what’s going on. It would be pretty cool if second-screening was
only required once in a while, but taking my eyes off the action every time I
needed to access my inventory (often) or to scan the area (constant) just
became a chore.

I’m still pretty early in the adventure, less than half, but
I feel absolutely no desire to go back to it and when I do, it just can’t hold
my attention. The systems in the game
don’t work for me, and with all of the second-screening, I feel like I’d rather
be playing something else that I can really sink my teeth into.

Speaking of which, it’s been a very long time since I played
a Zelda game which I genuinely enjoyed a (I think Spirit Tracks was the last
one) but I’ve been spending time with A Link Between Worlds while I’ve ignoring
ZombiU, and I think it’s probably the best Zelda Nintendo has turned out in
quite a long time.

I’ve been told that the game is actually called Link To The Past
2 in Japan, which makes perfect sense since the overworld map and much of the
structure is highly reminiscent of that Nintendo classic. In fact, when I started the game, I had a powerful
sense of deja vu, and it took me a little while to get into the swing of things. It certainly feels overfamiliar at times, but
there’s no question that it’s a very polished, smooth experience with a number
of changes that make it debatably better game than the one that inspired it.

What I like is that it does away with a lot of the baggage
that’s dragged the recent iterations down – there’s no longer constant
repetition of things the player already knows, the game is open to exploration
from the start, and the dungeons can be tacked in nearly any order, so it
becomes a fairly self-directed experience with little impedance save for the
occasional sticking point here and there. In fact, it generally moves at a rapid
clip, which I appreciate. It’s nice to jump into something like this and have it wrap up long before I’m sick of it.

That said, the game is far from perfect, and it stumbles in
a few places that were a little surprising.

To begin with, my good friend @Duckolstook the game to task
for something that I agree with – despite giving the player nearly all of the
tools from the beginning of the game, the dungeons are still constructed around
using only one. From start to finish, I can only think of perhaps two instances
where I actually got some benefit from having another piece of equipment
besides the one that was “recommended” and that seems a bit wrong. It’s odd to
think that Nintendo trusted the player to be smart enough to handle a more open
structure and a lack of handholding, but they clearly didn’t want even the
possibility of going into a dungeon without everything needed to complete it.

The weapons all seem overly-dedicated in their purpose, as
well. I got through the game never needing to use the bow or boomerang, and the
sand rod doesn’t even do anything outside of the desert. Half of the weapons
could have been cut.

Speaking of lacking functionality, the game’s big trick is
that Link can “flatten” himself and walk on walls in 2D fashion. It’s a neat idea and there are a few places
where it really wows, but in general it feels like it’s half-baked. Sadly, this mechanic is mostly used to
help Link cross gaps and reach elevations which don’t have any other way up.

For instance, he can climb a ledge on one side of a room and
then flatten onto the wall. When walking,
he’ll keep the exact same altitude as he walks his way around to the other side. Naturally, the developers go a
little crazy with minor height differentials, and I got really tired of looking
for ways to boost up to things that were just a little out of reach. Adding insult, there were too many times the developers lazily
stuck a little brick or some type of broken surface to prevent link from taking
a shortcut, and there were other times when it seemed like he
should be able to slip through somewhere but couldn’t.

It was also disappointing to find that Link doesn’t really
do anything when he stuck to the wall except walk. There are no enemies to kill and he can’t use
items or jump Mario-style, and I almost wanted to cry when I realized that
there really wasn’t much to this power except simple traversal. I mean, there could have been all sorts of
interesting 2D sidequests or activities, not to mention the different ways
the items could have been implemented, but none of it ever happens.

Although I’ve listed out more negatives than positives, don’t
get me wrong... I definitely feel like
Link Between Worlds was a worthwhile experience, and I certainly enjoyed it
once I was able to put the overfamiliarity aside. For people who aren’t as burned out on Zelda
as I am, I would imagine the enjoyment to be even greater.